Crate for finned end piece of bomb or the like



Aug. 23, 1955 K. T. NORRIS 2, 715,960

CRATE FOR FINNED END PIECE OF BOMB OR THE LIKE Filed Sept. 14, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet l KENNETH I NORRIS,

IN V EN TOR.

HUEBNER, BE E HL E R,

WORREL 8 HERZIG, By ATTORNEYS.

Aug. 23, 1955 K. T. NORRIS 2,715,960

CRATE FOR FINNED END PIECE OF BOMB OR THE LIKE Filed Sept. 14, 195] 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 KENNETH 7: NORRIS INVENTOR.

HUEBNER, BE'EHLE/P, WORREL 8 HERZ/G, ATTORNEYS.

K. T. NORRIS Aug. 23, 1955 CRATE FOR FINNED END PIECE OF BOMB OR THE LIKE Filed Sept. 14, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 KENNETH 7. NORRIS,

INVENTOR.

HUEBNER, BEEHLER, WORREL 8 HERZ/G,

ATTORNEYS.

K. T. NORRIS Aug. 23, 1955 CRATE FOR FINNED END PIECE OF BOMB OR THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 14, 1951 7 All I\ I 4 a m m N T m N m. K x 1 O m 6 IN V EN TOR.

d an m M m 9& R. m EL 1 M MM HW a 4. 2

United States Patent CRATE FOR FINNED END PIECE OF BOMB OR THE LlKE Kenneth T. Norris, San Marino, Calif., assignor to Norris- Thermador Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif a corporation of California Application September 14, 1951, Serial No. 246,538

7 Claims. (Cl. 2063) This invention relates to the crating of a finned end piece such as the tail member of an aerial bomb.

In the past, packing of finned tailpieces has been done almost entirely in wooden crates nailed or screwed together. Such crates have to be of relatively hard wood,

which is expensive, in order to withstand the rigors of transportation handling, and in order to be made sufliciently strong must be rather bulky. The result is that the completed crate occupies a space which is appreciably larger than the tailpiece which is being transported. Such wooden crates thus have the inherent disadvantage of taking far more transportation space than is required by the apparatus being shipped, namely, the bomb tailpiece itself.

It is an object of the instant invention to provide a crate for a finned tailpiece, which is of much less bulk and of less weight than the crates used heretofore. Such an object is attained by employing a crate made entirely of sheet metal and embodying the features of the instant invention.

Handling of such finned tailpieces during transportation is often a rough procedure, and the crates are often subjected to drops from considerable heights. When a wooden crate is dropped, the strain is generally absorbed by giving way or twisting of the joints. This tends to distort the crate and often damages the crated tailpiece, no matter how well padded it may be within the crate.

It is a further object of the instant invention to provide a crate capable of withstanding appreciable drops without damage to the crated tailpiece.

It is another object of this invention to provide a means for securely and safely packaging and shipping a finned tailpiece.

It is another object of this invention to provide a means for crating a finned tailpiece in such manner that the crate may sufier rough handling and even appreciable drops without damaging the tailpiece crated therewithin.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a crate and packing for a finned tailpiece, utilizing parts of the tailpiece itself for its securement within the crate, thereby minimizing the extent and complexity of the added crating parts required.

It is a further object of this invention to crate a tailpiece of a bomb in such manner as to give maximum protection to the forward edge of the tailpiece, which must be ultimately secured to the body of the bomb proper.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a tailpiece crated in accordance with the instant invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view taken from the forward end of the "ice tailpiece by looking upward on the structure of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged but fragmentary longitudinal section of the device shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, being taken on lines 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross-section showing the rear end portion of the fin and crate taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary cross-section taken on line 88 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary section taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view showing in detail one of the corners of the crate.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary cross-section taken in the same plane as Fig. 8, and showing in detail the locking construction of a portion of the assembly.

It is a feature of the instant apparatus that all parts of the crate are of sheet metal held together by welds, rivets or bolts. In the drawings the crating frame is shown composed principally of four longitudinal members or posts 11, 12, 13 and 14 bent into right-angled corners and occupying the corners of a square as seen in section in Fig. 5, the ends of the frame comprising a forward end member 16 and a rearward end plate 17. The members 1214 are welded at their forward ends to the end member 16, and at their rearward ends are secured to the end plate 17 by four bolts 19, weld nuts 20, and lock washers 66, one in each corner. The nuts 20 are Welded to the interior of the posts circumjacent the bolt holes, in order to speed up assembly. The end plate 17 constitutes a square cap having a flange 18 therearound which fits over and around the ends of the posts 12-14 and is secured thereto by the passage of the bolts 19 through the flange 18 and through the posts 12--14. The flange 18 and the posts 1214 are recessed from the exterior where they are united by the bolts 19, nuts 20, and lock washers 66, as best seen in Fig. 6. This places the bolt heads below the surface contour of the crate and precludes snagging during handling and also facilitates stacking of the crates after assembly.

The end plate 17 is corrugated inwardly as shown at 21 in Figs. 2, 4, and 9, along diagonal lines extending inwardly from the four corners of the end plate 17. Down the center of each corrugation 21 there is outwardly corrugated a shallower groove 22.

The four grooves 22 are on the inner surface of the sheet metal plate 17, while the opposite outer boss formed by these grooves 22 is recessed below the plane of the plate 17, by virtue of the deeper corrugations 21, as best seen in Fig. 9. The net effect is to provide protection for the tailpiece fins 28 disposed in the grooves 22 in a manner to be described hereinafter. Such protection is afforded because if the crate should be dropped with the tail end down, the portion of the end plate 17 embodying the grooves 22 would not come in contact with the impacting surface, but would be shielded by the unrecessed fiat portion of the plate 17 and the resiliency of the metal would absorb much of the shock which would otherwise be transmitted to the fins 28.

Within the crate frame is centrally disposed at finned end piece 23 such as the tailpiece of a bomb. The tailpiece 23 has a hollow conical body 24 tapering toward the rear thereof, the axis of which is coincident with the axis of the crate. The forward end 26 and the rearward end 27 of the body 24 are both open. To the exterior surface of the body 24 at the rear thereof are secured four fins 28. The rear edges 29 of the fins 28 extend rearwardly beyond the open end 27 of the body 24 and abut the end plate 17, being disposed in the grooves 22.

When mounted in the crate, the tailpiece 23 is held primarily and firmly by and against the end plate 17. 'It is centered within the crate by the provision of a curve or radius formed on the inner end of each of the grooves 22 and matching in contour the curved interior corner of each of the fins 28. Thus, as the fins 28 are drawn into the grooves 22 they are centered automatically by the curved ends 15 of the grooves so that they nest centrally against the plate 17 Thus, the tailpiece can neither rotate nor shift laterally in its clamped position against the plate 17 when subjected to side thrusts or impacts, which might be occasioned by dropping of the crate.

It will be noted in Fig. 4 that the outer corners of the fins 28 are spaced an appreciable distance from the corners of the end plate 17 as shown at 25. Thus, should the crate be dropped upon one of these corners, the impact would be absorbed by a mashing in of the corner, but because of the space 25 the fin 28 would be unharmed. As noted above, the rear edges 29 of the fins 28 are protected from any direct impact by the provision of the relatively deep, wider exterior indentation 21.

The tailpiece 23 of the bomb includes a hollow axial member or tube 31' which extends through the open rear end 27 of the body 24 and normally is used to provide passage for arming mechanism for the bomb. The end of the axial member 31 within the body 24 is formed into an enlarged head portion 32. For the crating purposes of the instant invention the axial member 31 is used in the following manner. A clamping member in the form of a circular plate 33 formed somewhat in the shape of a bowl or cup for added strength is provided with a central axial hole or opening 34, and is disposed within the body 24 transversely of the tailpiece axis 36 and symmetrically with respect thereto. The tube 31 is extended to the rear of the tailpiece through the hole 34 until the head portion 32 abuts the plate 33 and pulls the edges thereof into engagement with the tapering inner walls of the body 24. The end plate 17 is provided with a central axial hole or opening 37, and through this opening extends the threaded end 38 of the tube 31. In normal use of the tailpiece, when secured to a bomb, the threaded end 38 extends only slightly beyond an annular plate 39 disposed across and partially closing the open end 27 at the rear of the tailpiece body; and a securing member such as a nut 41 is threaded onto the end 38 and bears against the annular plate 39 to clamp the tube 31 with respect to the body 24. For the purposes of the instant crating operation, the tube 31 is extended further through the rearward end of the body 24 and the nut 41 is threaded to the end 38 to clamp the tube 31 against the end plate 17 rather than against the annular member 39 of the tailpiece proper.

The end plate 17 is of relatively thin gauge metal, and in order to strengthen the metal around the edges of the opening 37 to withstand the heavy thrust of the relatively narrow flange 42 of the nut 41, a washer 43 is interposed between the nut 41 and the end plate 17. The washer 43 is made of heavier gauge metal than the end plate proper,

' and has a considerable annular overlap around the hole 37; the washer thus distributes the thrust force over a wider surface of the end plate 17 and prevents collapse of the metal around the hole 37.

The portion of the tailpiece which must be protected with greatest care is the forward edge 44 circumjacent the forward opening 26, because this is the edge which must be fitted precisely to the body of the bomb proper upon assembly thereof. Protection of this edge 44 is achieved in a highly satisfactory manner by the instant invention; drawing up of the nut 41 on the threaded end 38 of the axial member 31 serves to draw the rear edges 29 of the 32 of the axial member31.

the end piece 16 is formed as a square cornered annulus and the inner edge is turned inwardly to form a circumferential or circular flange 46 so positioned that the forward edge 44 of the body 24 is closely circumjacent the flange 46 and still spaced longitudinally by the distance D from the closest portion of the frame itself. edge 44 is given maximum protection against damage due to dropping of the crate with its packaged tailpiece. The circular flange 46 is made somewhat conical but having a taper less than that of the tailpiece body 24, so that if the nut 41 should loosen accidentally, allowing the fins 28 to pull slightly away from the end plate 17, the forward end of the body 24 would engage the framenot at the edge 44but would be wedged at the point 47 where the inner surface of the conical body 24 first contacted the forward edge of the flange 46. This forward edge is flanged in sharply as shown at 48, in order to facilitate assembly of the tailpiece into the crate.

As with the rearward end of the assembly, the most vulnerable areas of the forward end are the corners of the end member 16. As best seen in Fig. 3, there is a large, generally triangular area interposed between the corner of the member 16 and the critical edge of the tailpiece. Thus this corner could absorb considerable mashing before there would be any danger of contact with the edge 44; Even on the sides of the member 16 there is appreciable clearance between the edge 50 of the annular member 16 and the rim or edge 44 of the tailpiece, as best seen in'Fig. 4.

As the nut 41 is screwed up tightly, the tendency of the tube 31 to rotate with respect to the clamping plate 33 is resisted by the provision of a small pin 51 on the plate 33 displaced radially from the axis 36, which passes through a locking hole 52 specially formed in the head Inter-engagement between the pin 51 and the hole 52 also facilitates removal of the fin nut 41 from the tube 31 during field disassembly of the finned tailpiece from the crate. That is, as the nut 41 is unscrewed the tube 31 is prevented from rotating by the pin 51 residing in the hole 52. The plate 33 is in turn prevented from rotating within the body 24 in the following manner. The body 24 is actually formed of four identical longitudinal sections 24a, 24b, 24c, and 24d (Fig. 8). The lap seams 53 where the four sections are joined together are smoothly contoured on the exterior, leaving longitudinal ridges 54 on the inner surface of the body 24. Fourperipheral indentations 56 are made in the edge of the plate 33, so that when drawn against the inner surface of the body by the screwing up of the nut 41, the plate 33 might rofate as much asa quarter of a turn, but then the recesses 56 mate with the ridges 54 and further rotation is prevented, thereby allowing the nut 41 to be screwed down tightly. The tailpiece 23 proper is prevented from rotating in the frame by the engagement of the fins 28 in the grooves 22.

In practice it is preferred to provide a plurality of identical locking holes 52, one in each of the strengthening ribs 58, as best seen in Fig. 8. This somewhat expedites assembly of the tailpiece in the crate since any of the locking holes can be engaged with the pin 51, and in addition the unused holes 52 serve as drainage holes for the escape of surplus paint during fabrication, and also for the escape of rain water and sea water spray, which might accumulate in transit.

The sheet metal parts are strengthened at several Points by the formation of longitudinal corrugations or ribs. For example, the posts 1114 are corrugated inwardly as shown at four orthogonal sloping ribs 57 are corrugated in the end plate 17 as best seen in Figs. 2 and 4; and a series of radial ribs 58 are corrugated in the plate 33 as best seen in Figs. 4 and 8. Furthermore, longitudinal corrugated diagonal braces 59 formed of elongate pieces of sheet metal are provided spanning each of the four sides of the frame, and these braces Thus the also are ribbed by longitudinal corrugation. In the larger size crates it is preferred to rivet or weld a similar medial cross brace 61 on each of the four sides of the frame, forming a belly band around the crate.

Throughout the crate proper numerous drain holes 67 are provided. These holes, strategically placed in accordance with the contour of the frame, facilitate drainage of surplus paint during fabrication of the frame, and also serve to drain away rain or condensed salt water spray, which might be gathered in transit. This drainage reduces to a minimum the possibility of water corrosion during storage and transit. Representative drain holes 67 are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. As mentioned hereinbefore the unused holes 52 in the clamping plate 33 also serve as drain holes for that member.

As best seen in Fig. 10, the end plates 16 and 17 are provided with return flanges on their extreme edges. For example, the forward end plate 16, having the flange 50, is provided with a return flange 50a extending along the intermediate portion of each edge, each end of the return flange being cut away as shown at 50b to provide passage for the posts 1114. The flanges 50a with the cut-away portions 5012 thus not only strengthen the end plates, but also provide a centering means whereby the posts 11--14 may be accurately placed in the corners of the end plates 16 and 17.

Use and assembly of the device or apparatus described hereinbefore is as follows. The tailpiece proper consists of the part 23, the tube or axial member 31 and the nut 41. These are the parts which will eventually be incorporated into the completely assembled bomb. The other parts are used only for the crating and shipping function. In the assembly operation a completed tailpiece 23 is placed within a crate and comes to rest with the conical lower portion wedged lightly against the edge 47 of the flange 46. The fins will be disposed diagonally within the frame since this is the only position in which the tailpiece will fit inside the frame. The end plate 17 is then placed over the posts 11-14 and secured thereto by the bolts 19, weld nuts 20, and lock washers 66. This places the rear edges of the fins 28 slightly beneath the grooves 22 ready to be drawn into engagement with the grooves when the nut 41 is screwed home.

The entire assembly-tailpiece and crateis then lifted and placed over a standard or jig 65 upon which has been previously placed a tube 31 and a clamping plate 33 as shown in Fig. 1. As the conical body 24 drops down, the interior surface thereof comes to rest against the periphery of the clamping plate 33, thereby lifting the body 24 slightly off the flange 46 and placing the rear edges of the fins 28 into the grooves 22. This leaves the upper end of the tube 31 extending above the opening 37 in the plate 17.

The tailpiece 23 comes to rest with the interior surface bearing against the periphery of the clamping plate 33. The rim 48 of the flange 46 may also lightly touch the interior of the body at 47. This leaves the upper end of the tube 31 extending well above the opening 27 in the rear end of the tailpiece, so that when the plate 17 is placed over the posts 12-14, an appreciable portion of the threaded end 38 extends through the opening 37. Bolts 19 are then screwed into the nuts 20 to secure the end plate 17 to the upper ends of the posts 12-44, thus completing the frame proper. The washer 43 is then placed over the end 38 of the tube 31 and rests around the opening 27 substantially as shown in Fig. 7. The nut 41 is threaded onto the end 38 and its notches 62 are engaged by a special impact type wrench which screws the nut 41 home, the flanges 42 thereof pressing the washer 43 into position around the opening 27 and distributing the load over a considerable annular area on the plate 17.

By way of parenthetical explanation it will be noted that after removal from the crate, when the tailpiece 23 is assembled to a bomb and the nut 41 screwed against the annular plate 39, the nut is turned over from the position shown in Fig. 4 so that the cylindrical portion extends away from the plate 39. A locking tab 63 on the plate 39 is then bent into one of the notches 62 to lock the nut in place.

As the nut 41 is screwed up tight against the plate 17, it lifts the tube 31 slightly off the jig 65; and through the clamping plate 33 the entire tailpiece 23 is lifted slightly, and the rear edges of the fins 28 are firmly clamped against the end plate 17 and in the grooves 22, and the body 24 is slightly separated from the flange 46 at the point 47.

Thus the forward edge 44 (at the bottom in Fig. 4) of the tailpiece 23 is completely out of engagement with all portions of the frame, so that the assembly is able to withstand a great shock, as by dropping, without harming the tailpiece 23 in any way, and in particular without injuring the edge 44. Any lateral swaying of the forward end of the tailpiece simply brings it lightly into engagement with the flanged edge 48 at 47 and does not damage the critical edge 44. As mentioned hereinbefore, should the nut 41 come loose in transit, and in fact even come oif, it would not harm the edge 44, for the tailpiece 23 would simply drop down until its forward end was wedged around the flange 46 at 47, still leaving the edge 44 slightly spaced longitudinally from all portions of the frame and thereby not subject to being dented.

Employment of metal for the crate instead of wood has the advantage of requiring much less packing space during transportation. It has another rather unobvious advantage alluded to hereinbefore. Wood is relatively inelastic or unpliant, and when a wooden crate is dropped, the shock is either transmitted substantially unattenuated to the joints, or the wooden member shatters completely. Where the joints take the impact, the crate is liable to be badly distorted; where the wood shatters, the impact is transmitted directly to the closest portion of the crated tailpiece. In either event the tailpiece is liable to suffer damage.

In contrast, where metal is used, the impacted area tends to mash or bend without breaking, because of therelative pliancy of metal as compared to wood. In any orthogonal crate, the corners are most likely to receive the impact upon dropping of the crate. In the instant crate, particular provision has been made to insure that all eight corners of the crate can take a considerable impact without harming the crated tailpiece. As noted, there is a very great potential mashing region 45 at the forward end, which protects the critical forward edge 44 of the tailpiece. At the rearward end the mashing area may be appreciably less, since the fins if damaged, need not be repaired with the same precision as required for repair of the edge 44.

The corners of the crate are so designed that when a loaded crate is dropped so as to land on a given corner, the corner structure will collapse into a permanent set. The vertical extent of this collapse represents the distance through which the contained tailpiece travels in decelerating to zero from the impact velocity. This decelerating distance places a finite limit upon the decelerating force applied to the tailpiece. Such force is held to a minimum by the instant design, which permits collapse and set at the corner of the crate, while at the same time creating compensating deflections in other portions of the crate so that the contained tailpiece remains snugly supported in position. The corners of the crate assembly thus cushion and absorb the impact of fall by mashing; this mashing in turn permits relatively gentle deceleration of the dropped crate up to approximately one inch of vertical travel.

Also, it will be noted that the braced nature of the corners of the members 16 and 17 creates resistance against large structural deformation in three planes, these being for example, the plane of the end plate 17, the plane of one flange 18, and the plane of the adjacent flange 18. All in all, the structure described produces a controlled resistance to mashing, which, upon being dropped, sacrifices the crate to the security of the contained tailpiece, thereby providing maximum safety of transportation and storage of the tailpiece itself.

Highly satisfactory crates for packaging tailpieces for 1000 pound bombs have been constructed of sheet steel having the following dimensions: The end member .16 and the clamping plate 33 are made of hot rolled, pickled steel having a thickness of .0598 inch. The other parts: end plate 17, posts 1214, and braces 59 and 61 are made of the same kind of steel of thickness .0478 inch. The outside dimensions of such a crate are 47.97 inches long and 20.12 inches. wide at each square end. The flanges of the members 16 and 17 are 2 inches wide. The diagonal braces 59 are 1.63 inches wide after corrugating. The clamping plate 33 has a diameter of 12.34 inches and, being bowl-shaped, the depth of the member is 2.75 inches. Each flange or side of the angleshaped corner posts 12-'14 is 2.0 inches wide, after formation of the corrugation or ribs therein. The center brace 61 is 1.63 inches wide after corrugating. The weight of the crate alone, being the posts, braces and end plates is 35.5 pounds. The clamping plate 33 and washer 43 weigh 4 pounds. The tailpiece alone weighs 60.5 pounds. The coupling tube and nut 41, also forming part of the complete tailpiece, weigh 11 pounds. Thus the total weight of a crated unit is 112 pounds.

A crate for a tailpiece for a 500 pound bomb has been constructed as follows. The crate is 33.78 inches long and 14.99 inches square at each end. The end member 16 and the clamping plate 33 are of sheet steel .0478 inch thick, while the other parts: posts 12--14, braces 59 and 61, and end plate 17 are of sheet steel .0359 inch thick. The clamping plate 33 is 8.79 inches in diameter, and the bowl portion is 2.06 inches deep. The braces 59 are 1.63 inches wide after corrugating, and each side of the right-angle corner posts 1214 is 2.0 inches wide after corrugating. The center brace or belly band 61 is omitted in the 500 pound bomb crate. The crate alone weighs 18 pounds. The clamping plate 33 and washer 43 weigh 2.5 pounds. The tailpiece alone weighs 32.5 pounds. The coupling tube 31 and nut 41 weigh 8 pounds. Thus, the total weight of a crated unit is 61 pounds.

A crate thus constructed of corrugated sheet steel parts has maximum strength and protective qualitieswith minimum weight. Such crates are tested with a tailpiece in place by being dropped four feet onto solid concrete eight times, once on each of the four corners of each end, and the tailpiece suiiers no damage whatever. Such a drop corresponds to a drop of twenty feet onto ordinary hard ground.

While the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent apparatus and articles.

What is claimed is:

l. A device of the character described, comprising in combination a frame, a finned tailpiece disposed centrally therewithin, said tailpiece having a front end and a rear end and being hollow and open at each end and including fins on the rear end, said fins having rear edges disposed rearwardly of all other portions of the tailpiece, an end plate constituting one end of said frame and having a central opening therethrough, a clamping member disposed within'said tailpiece, an axial member extending rearwardly from said clamping member through the open rear end of said tailpiece and through the opening in said end plate, means securing said axial member against rotation relative to said tailpiece and a nut threaded on the end of said axial member and engaging the outer surface of said end plate circumjacent its central opening to draw the rear edges of said fins into firm engagement with said end plate thereby to clamp said tailpiece firmly within said frame. r

2. A device of the character described, comprising in combination a box-like frame, a finned tailpiece disposed within said frame and having a tapering hollow body with an open forward end and an open rear end, an inwardly extending circular flange secured to said frame at one end thereof, the open forward end of said tailpiece being disposed closely around said flange, the forward edge of said forward end being spaced longitudinally from said frame thereby to protect said edge from damage by jarring of said frame, an end plate secured across the end of said frame opposite said flange, having a central hole therethrough and having on its interior a plurality of grooves corresponding to the fins on said tailpiece, said fins having rear edges disposed against said end plate in said grooves, a clamping member disposed laterally Within the hollow body of said tailpiece and symmetrically with respect to a central axis running from the forward end of said body to the rear end thereof, an axial member extending from said clamping member rearwardly through the open rear end of said tailpiece and through the hole in said end plate, engagement of the peripheral edges of said clamping member with the tapering walls of said tailpiece serving to limit withdrawalof said axial member rearwardly from said tailpiece, and a nut threaded onto said axial member engaging said end plate around said hole to draw the rear edges of said fins firmly against the grooves in said end plate, thereby to clamp the tailpiece within said frame and insure that said forward edge of said tailpiece is kept spaced longitudinally from said frame.

3. Device of the character described, comprising in combination a box-like frame having a central axis, a hollow tailpiece tapering toward the rear end thereof, both the forward and rearward ends of said tailpiece being open, said tailpiece having a plurality of external rearwardly extending fins having rear edges which are behind the open rear end of the tailpiece, said tailpiece being disposed axially within said frame, an inwardly extending circular flange coaxial with said axis and secured at one end of said frame,.the forward end of said tailpiece being disposed closely circumjacent said flange and spaced longi tudinally from said frame whereby said forward end is protected from damage by jarring of said frame, a clamping member disposed transversely within said tailpiece and having an axial opening therein, said tailpiece including an axial member passing through the opening in said clamping member and extending rearwardly out the open 1 rear end of said tailpiece, means interlocking said clamping member and said axial member to prevent relative rotation therebetween, an end plate secured to the end of said frame at the rear end of said tailpiece, said plate having an axial opening and a plurality of grooves receiving said rear edges of said fins abutted thereagainst, said,

axial member passing through the axial opening in said end plate, and a nut threaded onto said axial member and bearing against said end plate circumjacent the opening therein to clamp said fins firmly against said end plate, engagement of the periphery of said clamping member with the interior of the tapering walls of said tailpiece serving to prevent withdrawal of said axial member rearwardly from said tailpiece.

4. A crate for a finned tailpiece having a hollow tapered body having open ends, an axial member having an enlarged inner end and a nut adapted to be threaded on said axial member; said crate comprising, a frame having end walls, one of said end walls being provided with a relatively large central opening, an inwardly extending circular flange circumjacent said relatively large central opening, the other end wall having at least one inwardly facing radial groove and a relatively small central opening therethrough, said relatively small central opening being bounded by an outwardly facing bearing surface.

5. A crate for a tailpiece having a hollow tapered body and a plurality of radial tail fins; said crate comprising, a plurality of longitudinal sheet metal posts, a relatively flat end piece for said crate secured to one end of said posts, and a sheet metal end plate secured to the other end of said posts, said end plate being corrugated inwardly of said crate along lines radial to the center thereof, the inner crests of said corrugations being in turn corrugated outwardly to form inwardly facing radial grooves, the second-mentioned corrugations being of lesser depth than the first-mentioned corrugations so that said inwardly facing grooves lie inwardly of the plane of said end plate.

6. A crate as defined in claim 5 wherein the central portion of said end plate is provided with an inwardly depressed portion defining the radially inner ends of said grooves, and a central opening through said depressed portion.

7. A device of the character described, comprising in combination a frame, a finned tailpiece disposed centrally therewithin, said tailpiece having a tapering hollow body open at each end and including fins on the smaller end, an end plate constituting one end of said frame and having a central opening therethrough, a clamping member disposed within said tailpiece and wedged into engagement with the conical tapering wall of said body, an axial member extending from said clamping member through the open smaller end of said body and through the opening in said end plate, and a securing member on the extended end of said axial member engaging said end plate to draw said fin into firm engagement with said end plate thereby to clamp said tailpiece firmly within said frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 659,931 Knobeloch Oct. 16, 1900 1,269,410 Durning June 11, 1918 1,342,909 Hope June 8, 1920 1,693,199 Fair Nov. 27, 1928 1,805,287 Krantz May 12, 1931 2,184,145 Lambert Dec. 19, 1939 2,199,527 Sebell May 7, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS 930,468 France Aug. 11, 1947 

